By: Ohmer Bautista
After suffering a season-ending injury in last year’s season 93, Emilio Aguinaldo College big man Hamadou Laminou immediately made a huge splash in his first game back in the NCAA.
In their season debut, Laminou muscled his way to 34 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks. However, despite a solid outing, the 23-year-old Cameroonian student-athlete admitted that he couldn’t care less about how he performed since it all went for naught.
“I just want to play. I don’t care about my points, my rebounds. All I care about is for us to get the win,” he shared moments after losing their opening game, 97-106.
But despite the loss, Laminou confessed that it feels great to be back on the hardwood.
“It feels great,” beamed Laminou, who tore his ACL last August.
“After my ACL injury, I was really working hard for myself to get back and get more better than before.”
During the off-season, Laminou vehemently worked on his recovery through therapy. But the one factor that fueled him is the trust that his coaches and his teammates gave him.
“My recovery was good,” he said. “We [the team] believed that I can get back better than before. I got back little by little.”
EAC head coach Ariel Sison disclosed that Laminou had been raring to make a huge performance in his first game back.
“Yesterday, he talked to me. He said, ‘Coach ask my teammates to pray for me. This is my greatest comeback. I want to come back strong’,” the third-year EAC head coach shared.
And upon hearing those strong yet emotional words from his prized center, he happily backed him up in the opener.
“I allowed him to get back to his rhythm,” Sison said. “Sabi ko sa kanya, sige lang I will be patient with you. Tumira ka lang. If it makes, if it miss. Okay lang.
“Laminou is still our main go-to-guy.”
